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UID:2616@coolcleveland.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20250301
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20250302
DTSTAMP:20260402T122850Z
URL:https://coolcleveland.com/events/clevelands-colorful-kurentovanje-fest
 ival-is-back-for-luck-year-13/
SUMMARY:Cleveland's Colorful Kurentovanje Festival Is Back for Luck Year 13
DESCRIPTION:\nSat 3/1 @ 9AM-5:30PM\nWhen members of Cleveland’s large Slo
 venian community decided they wanted to bring more attention to the area
 ’s Slovenian heritage\, they came up with the idea of replicating a fest
 ival called Kurentovanje\, which attracts thousands of tourists each year 
 to the city of Ptuj in Slovenia featuring furry-suited “kurenti” ringi
 ng large bells to chase away the winter.  So in 2013\, they debuted the f
 irst Cleveland Kurentovanje festival\, taking place at the National Sloven
 ian Home on St. Clair and East 65th.\nThat festival\, which will be celebr
 ating its 13th year this year\, has grown from a small\, neighborhood effo
 rt to a popular event that lines St. Clair for the parade and packs the Sl
 ovenian home for an afternoon of food\, drink\, music\, dancing\, a vendor
  village\, kids’ activities and bocce. It’s also expanded to include a
  week of cultural activities leading up to the main event.\nThe festival d
 ay now kicks off at 9am\, when registration starts in the front lobby of t
 he Slovenian Home for the Kurent Dash 5K\, which steps off at 10am. (You c
 an register in advance here.) That’s also when the doors open at the Slo
 venian Home\, with rock band LoConti kicking off the musical entertainment
  on the ballroom stage from noon-1pm (they play again from 2-3) and kids
 ’ activities (which continue all day with crafts\, face painting\, story
  time\, sing-alongs and polka music) on the lower level. Kids can make col
 orful headdresses to wear outside when the parade steps off at noon.\nThe 
 parade on St. Clair features local businesses or organizations\, ethnic da
 nce groups\, marching bands\, polka bands and an ever-increasing number of
  kurenti who run up and down the street greeting the crowd and posing for 
 selfies.\nBack at the Slovenian Home\, there’ll be four stages of music 
 and other entertainment including the ballroom stage\, a stage downstairs 
 in the kids’ area with polka music\, the club room stage with the Sellou
 ts playing classic rock cover\, and a tent outside where Kurenovanje regul
 ars The Chardon Polka Band regale the crowd with high-energy polka version
 s of pop and rock hits.\nKurentovanje concludes at 5pm with the Pokop Pust
 a (Closing Ceremony) outside by the fire pits\, where an effigy is burned 
 and buried\, signifying the end of the festival. The Kurenti unmask and pl
 ace black streamers in the coffin to be burned.\nThe festival is extremely
  family-friendly\, free and open to everyone — all races\, ethnicities a
 nd what have you.\nGet a full schedule of events here.\nclevelandkurentova
 nje\n[mappress mapid="1042"]
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://coolcleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/202
 5/02/Kurentovanje-1.jpg
CATEGORIES:Dance,Tags,Workshop,Contest,Sport,Literary,RSS,Free,Preview,Ana
 stasia Pantsios,Music: Popular,Outdoors,----WRITERS----,Visual
 Arts,Drinks,Performance,Festival,Eats,Civic
 Affairs,History,Entrepreneurialism,Party,Education,Culture,Kids,Teen,colle
 ge
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